Better Days for Christmas
by dleduddet
Summary: Charlie’s decision to do something nice for Claire and Aaron on Christmas brings holiday cheer to the whole camp


**Title: **Better Days for Christmas **Author:** dleduddet 

**Disclaimer:** Oh, you know how much I wish they were mine, but sadly, they are not.

**Summery: **Charlie's decision to do something nice for Claire and Aaron on Christmas brings holiday cheer to the whole camp

**Rating: **PG

**Spoilers: **none

**Characters: **Charlie/Claire, Aaron, and Hurley. Some of the other losties randomly pop up a bit also.

**Notes: **I know Christmas has already passed, but a friend asked me to write a C/C Christmas fic and I sadly have just now gotten around to it. This is complete Charlie, Claire, and Baby fluff. Oh and of course, I've included plenty of Charlie/Hurley humor as usual!

; ) Enjoy!

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_And you ask me what I want this year And I try to make this kind and clear _

_Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days._

_Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings _

_Or designer love and empty things._

_Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days._

_-The Goo Goo Dolls_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Dear Diary, 12/22/04 

_Okay, so it may be true that after being stranded on an island for months, Christmas might lose quite a bit of it's magic. In fact for me it's actually kind of depressing. Christmas is supposed to be… a magical day. You should be able to be with your family not a bunch of people who you hardly even know. All I can think about is Aaron… he's spending his very first Christmas here. It's going to be horrible and I can only blame myself. What am I going to do? Oh, the baby is crying. I'll write again later._

_Love, Claire _

Claire closed her diary and turned to her son.

"Hi sweaty!" she said as she picked him up. "How was your nap? Did you dream about Santa Clause? He's going to come on his surf board and bring you lots of presents!"

Claire sighed as she patted Aaron's back. She knew she was lying to him but it was so hard to just completely ignore the fact that Christmas was in a few days. However, she decided, It would still be Christmas whether they were stranded on an island or not.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charlie heard a noise and looked up from the fire. Hurley was walking towards him.

"Dude… You're gonna go blind or something." Said Hurley, sitting down on a log next to Charlie. His comment caught Charlie off guard. He had been expecting the typical Hurley talk that always gave him ideas and got him in trouble.

"What are you talking about?" asked Charlie, looking curiously at the bigger man.

"Well, you've been sitting here staring into the fire for like, an hour. If you don't stop, you're gonna go blind."

"I'm not going to go blind." Sighed Charlie "And I'm not just staring, I'm thinking."

"about….?"

"Claire." Sighed Charlie. Hurley rolled his eyes.

"Why do I even bother asking?" asked Hurley. "She's all you ever think about."

"I know."

"Well what is it this time? Don't tell me you wanna cook for her again cause remember last time… that was… well, disastrous."

"No!" laughed Charlie "I will never ever try cooking again! I promise you that!"

"Well, then what is it this time?"

"Well," said Charlie, sighing "I was just thinking. You know Christmas is in a few days and I don't know what to do for Claire and Aaron. It's Aaron's first Christmas and it should be nice for him. And Claire just deserves a nice Christmas."

Hurley looked at Charlie thoughtfully. It always intrigued him how much he cared about Claire and Aaron. They had only been on the island for about 6 months.

"I guess you could make her a gift." Suggested Hurley.

"Yeah, out of what? Some coconut shells and an old tarp?"

"Hey I'm just trying to help."

"I know. sorry." Said Charlie.

The two of them sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes. Charlie looked around and noticed that all the survivors at the other fires had the same sad, depressed look on their faces.

"You know I think everyone needs something nice for Christmas." Said Charlie.

"You have an idea?" asked Hurley.

"Yup." Said Charlie. "And you're going to help me with it."

"Wonderful."

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_Dear Diary, 12/22/04_

_Now where was I? Oh yes. Christmas is going to be horrible. Everyone around here seems so… depressed. Well, Everyone except Charlie I guess. He's acting strangely happy. I guess it's just typical Charlie though. He's so sweat though. Earlier I asked him just why he's so happy and he told me it was because it would be his best Christmas ever. When I asked him why he said: "Cause I'm with you, of course." I love him so much. I have this weird feeling like he's got something up his sleeve for Christmas too. I really hope he doesn't try to cook again. We all know how that turned out. Well that's all for now._

_Love, Claire_

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It was Christmas eve now and Charlie's plan was completely finished. Now all he had to do was put it into action.

That afternoon he walked up to Nikki, the only girl left who he thought might have the stuff he needed to get ready.

"Hi Nikki." He said as he walked towards her shelter. She looked up and smiled brightly.

"Oh, Hi Charlie. What can I do for you?"

"Well… lets just say I have a plan and I need your help."

"Really? What kind of plan."

"Well, it's Christmas eve right? And I noticed everyone was looking a bit… down if you know what I mean. I thought maybe I could cheer people up."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Nikki, raising her eyebrows.

"It's a surprise. But look, can I borrow some blush from you?"

"Blush? Yeah I guess." Said Nikki. She turned to one of her bags and dug around. Pulling out a small compact she turned back to Charlie.

"Will this work?" asked Nikki

"Yes!" exclaimed Charlie "That's perfect, thank you! I'll give it back to you as soon as I'm done."

"Oh don't bother." Said Nikki "It's not like I use it here anyways."

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"For the love of God! You're doing it all wrong!"

Charlie grabbed the compact away from Hurley who was trying to apply the blush inside to Charlie's sunburned face. He swept the small brush across the top of the cake of blush and started brushing it onto his cheeks.

"This is how you do it, my friend." Said Charlie, examining himself in the mirror. "You have to use this nice swirling motion to make it look good. You were dabbing it a bit too much."

"No Dude. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to dab it."

"No. Swirl."

"Dab!"

"SWIRL!"

"Okay Whatever!" Said Hurley, giving in. "What exactly are you putting blush on for anyway?"

"_Because!_" exclaimed Charlie. "I already told you. I am Santa Clause. Santa Clause has rosy cheeks. Therefore, I must have rosy cheeks. Otherwise it would be completely unbelievable."

"Yeah. Who would believe _that_?" Asked Hurley as he rolled his eyes.

"You know what?" Said Charlie "I don't like your sarcasm. You're acting like you don't want to participate in the bringing of a happy Christmas to this God Forsaken island. Just admit it. You think this is a stupid idea!"

"Uhh… dude, I told you that the first time you told me your 'plan'."

"Well if you don't want to help then don't."

"K. Bye!" said Hurley and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Called Charlie "Please help me."

Hurley stopped in his tracks and sighed. He turned and walked back to Charlie. Taking the brush he helped Charlie _swirl_ the blush onto his cheeks.

"Very nice." Smiled Charlie "Now help me get into my costume."

Hurley looked at the pile of clothes lying at his feet. He bent over and picked up a pair of red pants and handed them to Charlie who put them on. Next, he helped Charlie pull a white pillow case over his head with holes cut out for his arms and head.

"Okay, now help me with the gloves."

Hurley picked up a pair of socks that he guessed were supposed to gloves. They had the tops cut off for Charlie's fingers and a hole in the side for his thumb. Charlie put them on and then pulled on a red button down shirt over his pillowcase.

"What about the hat and boots?" asked Hurley.

"They are right there." Said Charlie. Pointing to a pile of green clothing, on top of which sat hiking boots and the funniest piece of the costume yet.

Charlie put on the boots as Hurley picked up the "hat" and examined it. Charlie had taken half a coconut and painted it red. On top he had glued a fuzzy white pom pom ball that was unraveling and looked like he cut it off of someone's old scarf. Hurley just laughed.

"You may laugh now," said Charlie taking the hat and plunking it on his head "but you still haven't seen _your_ elf costume."

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_Dear Diary, 12/24/04_

_sigh It's Christmas Eve and I still have yet to think of something to do for Aaron. Or Charlie for that matter. I guess I was right after all. He defiantly has something up his sleeve. Earlier I saw him rummaging through the old suitcases and things looking for something. And then there's Hurley. He looked all sulky and annoyed which usually means that Charlie has dragged him into one of his crazy plans. I just hope he doesn't get himself into trouble again. Charlie has a good heart but sometimes he does go a little bit overboard._

_Love, Claire_

Claire looked up from diary as she heard a clanging noise that made Aaron start crying. Looking towards the far end of the beach, she noticed groups of people all walking towards something.

"Aww. Shhh. Aaron it's okay. Mummy's here." Said Claire as she picked up the baby and patted him on the back. "Shall we go see what all the fuss is about?"

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Claire laughed as she came across the commotion up the beach. There stood Hurley, next to an airplane seat, dressed as an elf, clanging pots and pans together.

His elf costume was hilarious. He was wearing a green and red women's Christmas sweatshirt and what looked like a skirt of palm tree branches. He had pulled is hair back into a ponytail and stuck another palm tree branch through the back of it and around his neck was the scarf which Charlie had cut the pom pom ball off of.

"Come one come all for your one and only chance to sit on Santa's lap!" shouted Hurley to the growing crowed. "Tell him what you want most for Christmas! It's now or never people! Oh look! Here he comes now!"

Hurley turned and looked expectantly into the Jungle just behind the chair. Nothing happened.

"I said," Shouted Hurley even louder "HERE HE COMES NOW!"

"Oh crap!" came Charlie's voice and people laughed even harder. "HO! HO! HO!"

Charlie came meandering out of the jungle and Claire and the rest of the crowed roared with laughter.

"Who wants to sit on Santa's lap?" called Charlie, smiling and trying not to laugh at himself.

"Lets make a line people!" Called Hurley as if everyone was rushing forward at once.

Claire walked toward the back of the line with tears of laughter in her eyes. She knew Charlie had done all this for Aaron.

"Can you believe this?" asked Sawyer, turning to look behind him at Claire.

"No." said Claire laughing again "But I'm pretty sure it's for Aaron." She kissed her baby on the forehead.

"Are you kidding?" asked Sawyer "Bozo did all this for me!" he smiled as Claire laughed again.

The line inched slowly forward. Claire was surprised that so many adults were willing to sit on Santa's lap and tell him their innermost Christmas wishes. The Christmas spirit was apparently infecting everybody.

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Charlie's plan was going perfectly. People were looking happier by the second. For a while he had been worried that nobody would want to sit on his lap, but to his surprise, people actually seemed eager to.

"Next." Said Hurley as Kate kissed Charlie on the cheek and stood up.

'Oh good' thought Charlie. Only two people left and Claire was last.

To Charlie's great astonishment and surprise, he saw that the next person in line was Sawyer. Sawyer was the last person he had expected to show up, let alone sit on his lap. Charlie let out a snort as Sawyer sat down.

"And what do you want for Christmas, Sawyer?" asked Charlie, closing his eyes to keep from laughing out loud.

"Hmm…" said sawyer, and made a face like he was thinking really hard. "I want… a lap dance!"  
"UGGHH! Get off of me!" yelled Charlie as he laughed and shoved Sawyer off of his lap. Sawyer stood up and winked at Claire before, meandering over to the other side of the beach.

Claire laughed and stepped up to Charlie.

"Hi." She said "I know you did this for Aaron… you didn't have to go through all the trouble, you know."

Charlie smiled. "I know. But everyone needed some cheering up. And it's Aaron's first Chrismas."

"Thanks." Smiled Claire. She looked down at Aaron. "Okay, are you ready to see Santa Clause?"

The baby giggled and Claire put him in Charlie's lap.

"Hi little boy!" boomed Charlie "I'm Santa Clause. Now I know you're supposed to tell me what you want for Christmas and all, but you can't talk. So I already got you something. But first, young man, I'm going to give you some advise." Charlie glanced up at Claire. She was looking down at Aaron. "I want you to know, that you should never be feeling down, even if it's Christmas and you're stuck on craphole island." Charlie noticed the crowed beginning to gather around him again. "Christmas isn't about getting presents and food and all the good holiday stuff. It's about spending time with your family. And you my friend, are one of the few people here lucky enough to have family with you. Well actually, I guess we've all kind of become one big family. One big island family." People laughed. "We are a support system for each other. Aaron, I guess I'm trying to say that even if you aren't having a great Christmas now, don't worry because there will always be better days. That's a good Christmas gift right there. Just knowing that everything gets better."

Charlie looked down at the baby. He was chewing on his fist and Charlie laughed. He knew that Aaron wasn't taking in a word that he was saying. But he would understand someday.

People clapped and smiled all around and Claire looked up at Charlie and grinned. She had tears in her eyes.

"Okay, okay I know that you're way too young to understand any of this. So here is your present. Charlie pulled a gift wrapped in a piece of old tarp out from behind his chair and helped Aaron open it. It was a teddy bear. One of it's ears was ripped and it's fur was shabby, but it was still a teddy bear.

"Oh look Aaron!" exclaimed Claire "It's a teddy bear all for you!"

Aaron squealed and stuck the bear's foot in his mouth.

"Don't worry," said Charlie quickly as Claire reached to pull the bear out of his mouth. "I washed it for him."

"Thank you so much." Said Claire "you don't know how much this means to me."

"Well you haven't even told me what _you_ want for Christmas! Come sit on Santa's lap!"

Claire smiled and handed Aaron to his favorite Uncle, Hurley. She slid on to Charlie's lap and sat there looking slightly embarrassed.

"You know you don't really look like Santa Clause." She blurted out.

"And why not?" asked Charlie in mock anger.

"Well you don't even have a beard for one thing."

"Well…" Charlie sighed then laughed. "So what is it that you want?"

Claire looked into Charlie's eyes and realized just how much she loved this man.

"You've already given me all I could possibly ask you for, Charlie Pace. You are always there for me and… and you made the whole camp happy today, and you let Aaron meet Santa, and… I've laughed harder today than any other time on this island, and…"

"Oh come on! What do you want?"

"Well, a kiss for one thing… and… I want a daddy for Aaron."

Charlie gazed at Claire, taken aback.

"Does this mean…?"

"Yes!"

Charlie didn't even say anything. He couldn't get any words out. He simply kissed Claire like he never kissed any girl before. A long kiss that he never wanted to end. Finally he and Claire pulled apart.

"I felt that, Santa!" exclaimed Claire and hugged Charlie.

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_Dear Diary, 12/25/04_

_Well, It's finally Christmas and Aaron and I got the best present I could ever ask for. I get to keep Santa Clause. Just Kidding. Charlie and I have decided to be married. We are planning to do a small ceremony here on the island because We aren't sure that we can wait much longer. It will be sometime next week. Wow. Aaron's finally going to have a daddy and… Charlie and I… I guess he was right. Better Days will always come._

_Love, Claire_

END


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